The Ark of The Covenant the former Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Meir Yehuda Getz Zt”l said he’s seen it.

The Ark of the Covenant has not been seen since the destruction of the First Temple. The tractate Shekalim of the Mishna states: “There once was a priest in the time of the Second Temple who while working in the Temple noticed that the part of the floor was different from other parts and realized that at that spot The Ark was hidden. He told another priest, but barely had he finished speaking his soul expired”

As a result of this revelation, there are people today who believe that the Ark is still there, under the Foundation Stone, which is where it was previously located. One of those people was the Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Meir Yehuda Getz, of blessed memory. When they began excavating the Western Wall Tunnels, he made some calculations and instructed them to break into a certain area beneath the Temple Mount. They discovered a huge tunnel carved through a rock leading towards the east, under the Temple Mount. It measured 28 meters in length and 6 meters in width. The bottom of the tunnel was filled with water and mud.

In his journal, Rabbi Getz wrote: “I immediately ran to the site and was overwhelmed with excitement. I sat there for a long time sprawled helplessly as warm tears were streaming down my face.” According to his calculations, there was a certain place that led to the location of the Ark of the Covenant. But it didn’t take long for the Muslims to discover this opening. They broke in, and Rabbi Getz, together with his Yeshiva students tried to physically block the members of the Waqf from entering.

At the end of a stormy day, in which the Temple Mount was at the center of international attention, the Prime Minister of that time, Menachem Begin, ordered that the tunnel be closed. According to Getz’s associates, he did in fact see the Ark in its place, but he covered the area and did not talk about it out of fear of being endangered by the Muslims.

more on this below, keep reading ……

The former Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Meir Yehuda Getz Zt”l said he’s seen it.

Western wall Tunnel

The stone has a length of 13.6 meters and an estimated width of between 3.5 and 4.5 meters; estimates place its weight at 570 tons.

Western wall Tunnel

More of the BIG stone

“There shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to

cause his name to dwell there”

(deut 12:11)

“Go to the place which the Lord shall choose.”

(Deut 12:26)

“The place which he shall choose to place his name there”

(Deut 14:23)

“ You shall go to the place which the Lord your God shall choose”

(deut 14:25)

“ The place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there.”

(Deut 16:2)

In front of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is an incredible labyrinth of tunnels, arches, and passageways remained untouched for centuries. At last, revealed through extensive archaeological excavations during the last few decades and culminating in the explosive opening of in autumn of 1996, the Tunnels beckon us to enter.

In the nineteenth century, the most distinguished Jerusalem scholars were already trying to determine the precise measurements of the Western Wall and describe the methods used in its construction. However, their information was incomplete, mainly because they were unable to discover the wall’s entire length. Nevertheless, British researchers Charles Wilson, in 1864 and Charles Warren, in 1867-1870, uncovered the northern extension of the Western Wall Prayer Plaza. The shafts that Charles Warren dug through Wilson’s Arch can still be seen todayIn the nineteenth century, the most distinguished Jerusalem scholars were already trying to determine the precise measurements of the Western Wall and describe the methods used in its construction. However, their information was incomplete, mainly because they were unable to discover the wall’s entire length. Nevertheless, British researchers Charles Wilson, in 1864 and Charles Warren, in 1867-1870, uncovered the northern extension of the Western Wall Prayer Plaza. The shafts that Charles Warren dug through Wilson’s Arch can still be seen today.

A underground tunnel starting at the north-west of the prayer plaza passes close to the part of the Western Wall that is hidden by the buildings. It goes through a system of vaulted areas and water cisterns. About 350 m. of the Wall have been uncovered, up to the northern edge, which is the north-western corner of the Temple Mount. In the Tunnel is the biggest stone in the Western Wall often called the Western Stone

is also revealed within the tunnel and ranks as one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery. The stone has a length of 13.6 meters and an estimated width of between 3.5 and 4.5 meters; estimates place its weight at 570 tons.

The Western Wall, the Kotel, is the most significant sites in the world for the Jewish people, next to the Holiest place on earth the Temple mount itself. We know that it is the last remnant of our Temple. We also know that people from around the world gather here to pray. People write notes to God and place them between the ancient stones of the Wall.

The Western Wall in the midst of the Old City in Jerusalem is the section of the Western supporting wall of the Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple (70 C.E.). It is a most sacred by virtue of its proximity to the Holy of Holies in the Temple, from which, the Divine Presence never departed.

But did you know that…

Many important events took place on Mount Moriah, known later as Temple Mount.

Mount Moriah, is the place where many pivotal events in took place. Creation of the world began from the Foundation Stone at the peak of mountain. From this point God continually emanates Divine energy which animates and sustains creation. This is also where Adam, the first human, was created. Later on, the Holy of Holies – the core and heart of the First and Second Temple – was built around the Foundation Stone.

When Abraham was commanded to prepare his son Isaac for sacrifice, the father and son went up to “the place that G-d chooses” – Mount Moriah, and to its peak – the Foundation Stone – where the binding of Isaac took place.

Also Jacob’s dream with angels going up and down a ladder happened at this mountain.

On Yom Kippur the High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem visited the Holy of Holies. It was the only day in the year that he was allowed to enter the sacred inner part of the Temple. In the First Temple period, the time of King Solomon, the Holy of Holies contained the Ark with the Stone Tables of the Torah.

There is not only the original Ten Commandments that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai, but also a jar of manna, from which the Jews ate during the forty years they traversed the desert prior to coming into the land of Israel still exists buried under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. (see the Rambam, Mishna Torah, Hilchot Beit HaBecheirah 4:1 and see Tractate Yoma, 53b) These, plus the legendary staff of Aaron the High Priest and a jar of oil to be used in anointing the next king, the new high priest and perhaps the Messiah.

When King Solomon built the first Temple, he constructed according to a prophecy. Each compartment and area was designated for specific purposes and function. Along with the Temple as we know it, an underground passage was created. This passage was made of winding passageways which extended deep under the Temple Mount.

During the four hundred and ten years that the first Temple stood and functioned, the golden ark which housed the original Ten Commandments rested in the area of the Temple Compound called the Holy of Holies. This was an area that only the High Priest was permitted to enter and only on Yom Kippur. When King Josiah, who lived during the final years that the Temple stood, saw the impending tragedy that loomed, he commanded that the four items be taken into hiding. This was some 22 year before the actual destruction of the Temple.

King Josiah was considered a righteous king. He foresaw the imminent destruction coming. When he ordered the precious ark and artifacts taken out of the designated resting place in the Holy of Holies, they were taken out with out knowledge of the population. (see Second Chronicles, 35:3) This means that the Ark was not removed from the Temple through a door way or entrance, but rather by opening a secret underground passage that had been in the Temple since its creation.

During the destruction and pillage of the Temple, the gold and silver vessels were removed and taken to Babylon as booty. There has never been any record of the whereabouts of the ark and it’s holy contents. Although Nebuchadnezar, the king of Babylon, and his subsequent successors used the vessels from the Temple, they did not have the ark.

When the second Temple was built, new vessels were made. However, the Holy of Holies existed albeit, with out the ark and it’s contents. Yet even though there was a Holy of Holies in the second Temple and even though the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies to perform the service of Yom Kippur, the ark and the Ten Commandments were not there. Reason is given that in truth the spot on which the Holy of Holies was built was over the secret resting place down deep in the ground under the floor of the Temple. The ark was never brought out of it’s hiding place, rather it rests there in hidden slumber waiting for the time of the final Temple, the third and according to tradition last Temple to be built. Then and only then will the ark be removed and brought to it’s final and supreme resting place where it and the jar of manna, the jar of the oil and the staff of Aaron will be a source of inspiration for all mankind.

One of the fundamental lessons that God’s Torah teaches the world is the concept of “Holiness”–the ability to strengthen ourselves to raise our physical and spiritual awareness beyond our normal limitations and connect with a Higher Reality.

Time can be holy, a place can be holy, and a Soul. Yom Kippur, for example, is a holy point in time, a chance to review our lives and start anew. Shabbot (The Sabbath), in its own special way, is also a special island in time, distinct from the weekdays before and after it.

The Kotel, on the other hand, embodies Holiness of place. Here, we are able to open ourselves up to God in special ways. God opens up to people here in special ways. Suddenly, we find ourselves rushing to put a note in the Wall, hoping to reach out to our Creator.

There is in a place in the Tunnels where we feel and experience this the most, there we are that much closer to the most Holy spot on earth, the one place where all the gates of prayer are open. In our time, the passage to that place has been sealed. But the entrance and the power of the connection remains.

You may notice that the stone in the middle of the archway is moist. It is almost as if G-d softly weeps in sympathy with those who pray in this place.

There is a sealed-off entrance To the second Temple that has been turned into a small house of Prayer and meditation called “The Cave”, by Rabbi Yehuda Getz, since it is the closest point one can get to the Holy of Holies.

The most significant figure in the pursuit of the Ark of the Covenant the Temple mount excavations was Western Wall Rabbi Yehuda Meir Getz. Getz, who had a spiritual, mystical approach to life in general and to the Temple Mount in particular, believed he could find the Ark of the Covenant.

Rabbi Getz was supporter of Excavations at the Temple Mount.In July 1981, Getz and team of associates opened a tunnel under the Temple Mount near to where he believed the Ark of the Covenant previously in Solomon’s Temple had been hidden, directly below the Holy of Holies of the Second Temple. In a an Australian TV program, Rabbi Getz indicated his previous statement and said that he had seen the exact place where the Ark is. A TV viewer named Mr. Green, wrote to the Rabbi and asked him to confirm declarations. This is the reply that he received from the Rabbi Getz.

“In reply to your letter of 20th.. April, 5753 ( The Hebrew calendar date for 1993), about the Ark of the Covenant. I can confirm that I do know the exact location of the Ark. As you must understand, this is a very delicate affair and we are not prepared to spread this information to just anybody. Yours sincerely, Rabbi Getz”. This was a hand-written letter, with the Rabbis seal and signed by the Rabbi. Rabbi Getz. It was alleged that when the chamber leading
to the supposed site of the Ark was discovered, the rabbi used a mirror to look around a corner of the tunnel, and saw the reflected image of the Ark. There was also a story circulating that Rabbi Getz heard the sound of a bellows or breathing, indicating that a Divine immanence still attended the Ark.

We know where it is, but we did not discover it. According to the [rabbinic] writings it is called t
he Gear He’Etzem [“Chalk of the Bone”] and is located deep within the ground. I wanted to go
knew the direction — I might be off only 15 to 18 feet – but it is impossible (to reach) because it is deep under the water (which flooded the tunnels)

Journalist Nadav Shragai, who investigated the tunnels for his 1995 Hebrew-language book “The Temple Mount Conflict,” explains that, according to Maimonides, when King Solomon was building the First Temple he knew it would eventually be destroyed, so he “built a structure in which to hide the Ark, down below in deep and twisting concealed places.” Getz believed the Ark of the Covenant, which had not been seen since Solomon’s days, was still hidden beneath the Temple Mount. The Ark, Getz believed, would hasten the redemption. Except that his excavations nearly led to bloodshed.

Rabbi Getz, taught that the Ark is situated in a secret chamber directly under the Holy of Holies, saying that the Ark has been there since the days of the Biblical king Josiah.

Rabbi Getz believed that in 1982 he was very close, within 40 feet, to finding the cave in which the Ark resides. He was conducting a search in an old tunnel that had been filled with the debris of centuries, which runs perpendicular to the Western Wall and under the Temple Mount. However, when the Moslems discovered that there were diggings being conducted under the Dome of the Rock, they threatened a general riot and the diggings were stopped. The rabbi explains that, for the sake of maintaining peace with their Moslem neighbors, the Israelis had to reseal the entrance to the tunnel, and it remains blocked up to this day.

The firemen manning the two fire trucks dispatched to the Western Wall on July 28, 1981 were still wondering what they were supposed to do there when they were suddenly told to return to the station. Yehuda Meir Getz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, had ordered the fire trucks and was also the one that hastily canceled the order after he discovered that all the firemen on the way to the Western Wall were Arabs. He feared that his plans – to dig under the foundations of the Dome of the Rock in order to find the site of the Holy of Holies, and the place where the Temple artifacts had been concealed – would be discovered too soon.

The firemen had been assigned a secondary role in the project: to pump out hundreds of cubic meters of muddy water from the huge tunnel, chiseled eastward. Getz, along with workers from the Religious Affairs Ministry, had cleared the opening secretly during work aimed at uncovering the full length of the Western Wall.

Rabbi Getz managed to keep the secret for only a few weeks. A violent confrontation broke out in the tunnel, which according to the Western Wall rabbi’s calculations, led to Ein Itam: the spring through which impure priests went to immerse themselves on their way from Beit Hamoked on the Temple Mount outside the walls. The Muslims discovered the breach and dozens of them slid down through openings in the Temple Mount area to the tunnel located near the Western Wall plaza. Getz and the yeshiva students who were alerted to the site rushed to block the way of members of the Waqf (Muslim trust) with their bodies. At the end of a turbulent day, with the Temple Mount at the epicenter of international attention, then prime minister Menachem Begin, minister of police Yosef Burg and police commissioner Shlomo Ivstan ordered that the opening that had been made in the wall on the eastern side be resealed.

That was the only time since 1967 that governmental officials had tried to tunnel eastward underneath the Temple Mount. At the time, it was officially announced that the huge tunnel under the structure of the Dome of the Rock had been discovered by chance during preparation of a niche for a holy ark at the Western Wall. Only years later did two members of the committee appointed by the government to investigate the affair disclose that the story about the niche for a holy ark was merely a cover-up for the real story.

Archaeologist Meir Ben Dov and the coordinator of the ministerial committee for Jerusalem affairs, Ephraim Shilo, discovered that the tunnel had been opened deliberately, but in order to prevent public relations damage to the state, this essential finding was left out of the final conclusions of the report they authored. Years later, Rabbi Getz explained that he had been motivated by an intense desire to find the lost Temple artifacts, first and foremost the Ark of the Covenant.

Warning from the Rebbe

A new book about Rabbi Getz makes new revelations about the affair. The author, Hila Volberstein, reveals that he was not alone in his plan to tunnel from the Western Wall eastward under the Temple Mount. He had a partner – Rafi Eitan, advisor on terrorism and security to three prime ministers (Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres), who later gained fame as the man who recruited and handled Jonathan Pollard.

The book about Getz, who was involved extensively in kabbala and for whom the Western Wall tunnels were a second home, is being published almost eight years after his death. In the volume, which was commissioned by the family, Getz is described as he was: an enterprising man of many talents, a philanthropist (who gave charity in secret), a man with a spiritual approach to life, an army officer and a mystic both in action and dress – with a black robe and white headdress, a prayer book and Bible in his pocket and pistol on his hip. He was among the first to settle in the renewed Jewish Quarter after the Six-Day War. Of his 11 children, most live in Judea and Samaria. One son, Yair, was killed in Samaria in the mid-1980s when the car he was driving was hit by a truck driven by an Arab. Getz was convinced that he had been murdered for nationalistic reasons. Another son, Avner, was killed in the battle for the Old City in the Six-Day War.

Volberstein reveals extensive excerpts from Getz’s diaries, just a small proportion of which had been made public before. She presents numerous testimonies, such as that of Naftali Kidron, formerly an engineer in the Religious Affairs Ministry, according to which the source of the rabbi’s almost total devotion to the project to uncover the Western Wall was his intense desire to find the Temple artifacts.

Getz, who served for many years as rabbi of the Western Wall on behalf of the Religious Affairs Ministry, clung ardently to his plans to find the Temple artifacts, refusing to relinquish his program even after the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, advised him to stop. The Lubavitcher Rebbe warned Getz that anyone who found the Temple artifacts was placing his life in danger, although he did make it clear that finding the artifacts used in the Temple would bring Jewish redemption closer. Rabbi Getz, writes Volberstein, “decided to be the atonement for the Jewish people, to search for the Temple artifacts and to do whatever he could to speed up the redemption. However, he was waiting for the right moment to open the tunnels in the easterly direction.”

Eitan’s testimony

One of the most fascinating testimonies in the book is that of Eitan. “As the excavation of the tunnels progressed,” says Eitan, “I met with Rabbi Getz almost daily. Together with him, I studied the structure of the Holy Temple and its dimensions. We drew conclusions as to the location of the Holy Temple and the Holy of Holies. When we arrived at the spot that according to our studies was supposed to be the gate through which the priests set out in order to immerse themselves, we assumed that if we made an opening in the wall to the east, we could move forward and eventually reach the Holy of Holies. But we waited for the right time to make the opening. We told no one about it because we preferred to keep the secret to ourselves, so that if – heaven forfend – it were discovered, the responsibility would not fall on the government or its leaders. That is why Begin, who knew about the excavations along the Western Wall, did not know about our plans to make the opening to the east.”

Eitan reveals that the opening was planned at first for the floor under the level where the excavation to uncover the Western Wall was being carried out at the time, “and in this way, it was not supposed to be discovered at all. We planned to go in, see the tunnels and move ahead in the direction in which we estimated that the foundations of the Holy of Holies would be found. We were of the view that without heavy tools, using a delicate chisel, we could chip away at the soft limestone walls. We thought that in that way, we could advance quietly and secretly to discover the hiding place where the priests had concealed the Temple artifacts and arrive at the spot just under the Holy of Holies, the place where the Ark of the Covenant was hidden.”

Eitan was not the only one privy to Getz’s secret. A number of Religious Affairs Ministry officials and students of the rabbi were also aware of his plan. He consulted with Avraham Hanan, described in the book as a man “with supernatural powers” of insight. Many years ago, before the archaeologists had drawn their maps, Hanan marked on a map the route of a tunnel from the direction of the southern wall area, northwest to Solomon’s Stables inside the Temple Mount. The excavators indeed discovered a tunnel along the route that Hanan had marked, but refrained from entering the Temple Mount. When Getz began to serve as rabbi of the Western Wall and the project reached a more advanced stage, Hanan designated the spot where in his view the Temple artifacts were buried. Getz was convinced that the Ark of the Covenant was buried in the same spot.

Catalyst for the Messiah

The Ark of the Covenant, which has not been seen since the destruction of the First Temple, was perhaps the most important of artifacts in the Temple, defined as the principal seat of the divine spirit. Some believe that it is still hidden in the tunnels excavated by King Solomon under the Holy of Holies. The tractate Shekalim of the Mishna states: “There once was a priest (in the time of the Second Temple) who while working in the Temple noticed that the part of the floor was different from other parts (and realized that at that spot there must be an entrance to a subterranean passage). He told another priest, but barely had he finished speaking before his soul expired, and it was clearly known that that was where the Ark was hidden.”

Jewish sources say that the Ark will be discovered a short time before the coming of the Messiah. Nachmanides wrote that the Ark would be discovered “during the construction of the Temple or in future wars before the coming of the Messiah king.” Rabbi Getz also believed that finding the Ark and/or Temple artifacts would serve as a catalyst for the coming of the Messiah. At first, he sought only to find the place at which the altar had stood, thousands of years ago.

The rabbi had two signs for the location of the site of the altar. The first was that the altar had been placed on level ground. However, the Temple Mount is made up of numerous tunnels, one atop another. If level ground, different from the rest of the surrounding ground, could be found, it would serve as proof of the site of the altar. The second sign was that under the place of the altar, where the sacrifices were brought in the time of the Temple, the floor was made of a mixture of zinc and plaster.

“If even a speck of zinc is found,” stated the rabbi, “we will know where the altar stood and that will advance us considerably.”

In July of 1981, that small niche for a Holy Ark was carved into the wall in the extension of the Western Wall, opposite the spot where Rabbi Getz believed the Holy of Holies was located. Immediately after the excavations began, an opening was created and the huge eastward tunnel carved into the rock under the Temple Mount was discovered. Its dimensions were impressive – 28 meters long and six meters wide. The floor of the tunnel was covered with a great deal of water and mud. “I immediately approached the place and I was seized by an enormous excitement. For a long time I sat, unable to move, with burning tears pouring down my cheeks. I finally gathered up strength and entered. I sat on the steps and said Tikkun Hatzot [midnight prayers] as is our custom.”

The first people brought in on the secret were the then director-general of the Religious Affairs Ministry, Gedalia Schreiber, and the two chief rabbis, Shlomo Goren and Ovadia Yosef. Goren was excited by the discovery as was Getz. He viewed the huge tunnels as a primary means to locate the precise location of the Holy of Holies, the area of the Holy Temple to which all but the High Priest on the Day of Atonement were forbidden entry, on pain of death.

Agreement on the matter would decide once and for all in the dispute among the rabbinical authorities concerning this major issue. It would also make it possible to define for the general public the boundaries of the area where one could be permitted to enter the Temple Mount, thus abolishing the sweeping prohibition imposed by most authorities on halakha (Jewish religious law) on Jews entering any part of the Temple Mount. Relaxing the prohibition might create yet another and perhaps even more complex problem in the relations between religion and state: All Israeli governments have prohibited Jews from praying on the Temple Mount (as opposed to visiting it). Relaxing the halakhic prohibition on entry to the Temple Mount would considerably widen the circle of those seeking to pray there.

Mortal danger

The floor of the tunnel was covered with mud and water, which were removed by hand. The circle of those privy to the secret grew. Among them was Israel Radio reporter Moti Eden who, says Volberstein, participated in the work of uncovering the tunnel. “At night, after my work at the radio station, I came to the tunnel and using hoes and wheelbarrows, helped with the difficult work of cleaning out the tunnel,” recalls Eden, today Channel One’s reporter in the north.

Seven weeks after the discovery of the tunnel, news about it was broadcast on Israel Radio. Reporters from all over the world streamed to the site. In late August, on a Friday night, Arabs brought water hoses and very powerful lighting into the tunnel through one of the openings in the floor of the Temple Mount. Getz, who feared the entry of Arabs into the tunnel and the Western Wall plaza, ordered the opening that had been made be boarded up. But just a few hours later, Muslims reentered the tunnel.

Getz was immediately alerted to come to the site from his home in the Jewish Quarter. His wife called students from the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva to come and ran after him. Seeing her husband standing almost all alone facing a group of Arabs holding tools, sticks and hoes, she ran back to the plaza where the worshipers were praying and cried, “Hurry! The rabbi is in mortal danger!”

The story ends with the political echelons ordering the opening to the tunnel sealed with reinforced concrete. Rabbi Getz wrote in his diary: “I will now retire from the project with a bitter taste in my mouth. I have never felt the humiliation of Judaism that I felt today in our own sovereign country. I pray that this is the end of the exile … The media is going wild and self-hatred is rife. However, I must refrain from revealing secrets even to this diary and therefore I will not react or respond to those that condemn us.”

On the evening of September 3, 1981, Getz added in his diary, “I felt during the Tikkun Hatzot prayers closer to the prayers of my forefathers when they saw the flames arising from the house of our Lord at the time of its destruction with their own eyes. The sound of the blows, of the Arabs inside the tunnel. Their every shout pierces my wounded heart. With all intensity, the cry left my mouth, `Gentiles have entered your sanctuary, defiled your Holy Temple, but I must remain strong and must not break down, for I must continue even if I am all alone.'”

In September 1995, three days after completing the construction of the Beit El yeshiva for the study of kabbala, Rabbi Getz passed away. In the Western Wall tunnels, there remains to this day the synagogue that he built, just opposite the spot where the Holy of Holies is assumed to be. Torah classes and prayers are still held there.

Getz was a personal friend of numerous public figures, among them Brigadier General (res.) Yossi Ben Hanan and Ma’aleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel. He was careful not to go up on the Temple Mount, but his formal title, “rabbi of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount,” testified to his heart’s burning quest.

Near the HOLY OF HOLIES

Holy light emanates from and dwells next to the “Kotel HaMa’arvi”

(the Western Wall). From there it goes out and dwells among the Jewish

Rebi Eliezer said: The Divine Presence never departed from the Temple, as it is written “For now I have chosen and sanctified this house so that My Name shall be there forever and My eyes and My heart will be there all the days” (II Divrei HaYomim

7:16) Rebi Acha said: The Shechinah will never depart from the Western Wall, as it is written, “Behold! He stands behind our wall” (Shir HaShirim 2:9). (Shemos Rabbah)

Here is a little on how it all works

7 timesאדנ”י (including collel of 1 for the name itself) equals כותל “Kotel” (western wall). From the Zohar we learn כותלערבי (western wall) is “Malchut”. His dwelling place is the תל (mount) that all turn to. The ד of אחד is this תל (mount) all turn to. It is Malchut.1 The “kotel” is close to the “even Stiyah” (foundation stone). There, there goes out the flow of light which is proper from the “kav” (beam). From this fine “kav” of אור (light) is a partnership of Bina (Divine undestanding) and Rachamim (mercy) that is drawn to enliven the world. In the place of the “even Stiyah” there the “kav” decends till reaching the center. From there it stands and then spreads out to the sides. From there and there the light spreads out, As in a globe. Till making the circle all equal. From the center she spreads out in length and width. Spreading out in all levels in secret of East to west, and north to south. This is the place of the עגול (circle-sefirot iggulim) where the world is eminated and the “kav” is drawn to. The Aor Yashar (supernatural spiritual light of the “kav”) surrounds the head of the “iggulim” (sefirot of nature), but does not enter them (the body of the Iggulim-6 lower sefirot). This place is between above and below. From here goes out the cleaving of the Ayn-Sof (infiniteness of God). The “kav” descends to illuminate in the חלל (empty space) which is the first עגול, and also in the 2nd that was eminated in it.2 The secret of Emuna (faith) is found in the central point of Aretz Yisrael (the land of Isreal). Which is the “kadosh Kadoshim”. Even if the Temple does not exist today, still in its merit the world is fed. Sustenance is emited from there to every place.3 The “kadosh Kadoshim”, the place where Hashem chose to place the ארון (ark), in its midst is the middle pillar. The temple is the secret of Malchut called אדנ”י . Between the temple below and that above is only 18 mil.4 Sapphire stone corresponds to the “even Stiyah”.5 The “even Stiyah” is the stone with 7 eyes described by Zachariah (3:9). It reveals Chaga”t and Nh”y of Chuchmah. The world is established by י”ה of Binna from it is Chuchmah revealed in Malchut according to the secret of 3×4=12 being 12 stones, tribes and hours of the day and night.6 Concerning the “even Stiyah” we learn in the Zohar that stones called Malchut rule in the left without the right. They rest on the תהום = מ ” ה x 10 (depths). תהוםעליון is Teferet of Arich, which is the source of upper conduits.אבן שתיה(even Stiyah) שת (foundation) of י”ה. 7 The שתיהןבא is (Wisdom) חכמה=גולם (energy before assigned form-unused potential).8 According to judgments of the left they are concealed. From them goes out water which is Chassadim (force of God’s giving). Concerning this water King Salomon writes “many waters will not satisfy love (song of songs 8:7). One can never give enough for this love.9

The Huldah Gates were gates leading into the Jerusalem Temple compound in the Hasmonean period and were named as such in the Mishnah.The term is currently being used for the remains of two later sets of gates, the Triple Gate and the Double Gate, known together as the Huldah Gates, built as part of the much extended Herodian Temple Mount, situated in Jerusalem’s Old City. Both sets of gates were set into the Southern Wall of the Temple compound and gave access to the Temple Mount by means of underground vaulted ramps. Both have been walled up in the Middle Ages.

The western set is a double-arched gate (the Double Gate), and the eastern is a triple-arched gate (the Triple Gate).There still are a few Herodian architectural elements visible outside and inside the gates,

THIS IS A IMAGE FROM OUT SIDE THE DOUBLE GATE

PILLER OF HULDA’S GATE ARE UNDER THE ALASKA MASQUE

PILLAR AT HULDA’S BLOCKED GATE TO TEMPLE MOUNT UNDER THE MASQUE

PHOTO TAKEN INSIDE the Golden Gate OR CALLED IN HEBREW “Shaar Harachamim”

In 2019 the Muslim Waqf controlling the Mount joined with the Palestinian Authority and Jordanian officials to lay claim to the ancient “Bab el-Rahma,” otherwise known for centuries as the Golden Gate or “Shaar Harachamim” in Hebrew.

Unlike most of Jerusalem’s other gates, the Golden Gate was originally built at least a millennium before Suleiman rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 1540. It is the only Jerusalem gate that opens directly unto the Temple Plaza. According the Jewish tradition, the High Priest of the Temple would use the gate to carry out rituals.

Archaeologists believe that the gate, dates back to Herod’s construction and Nehemiah’s period (440 BCE), still exists beneath the current gate. At present a Muslim cemetery to block the way to this gate.

(Library of Congress, 1856-1860)

Unknown to most of the world, there are ancient rooms between the wall facing the Dome of the Rock and the sealed gate on the outside wall facing the Mount of Olives, and it is here that the Muslim Waqf seeks to establish another Muslim prayer area on the Temple Mount. Israeli authorities sealed access to the internal rooms in 2003.